Stopping Mbappe Is the Whole Team's Job: Barca Coach Flick Reveals His El Clasico Plan
Ahead of the season's first El Clasico, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has laid out his plan for stopping Real Madrid's French forward Kylian Mbappe. The Catalan side's German coach made it clear that handling Mbappe is not the responsibility of Barcelona's defence alone — it is the whole team's job.
On Sunday night (October 25), Barcelona and Real Madrid meet at Spotify Camp Nou in the season's first El Clasico. Excitement around Spanish football's fiercest rivalry is at its peak.
Flick's side are in superb form, having won all of their first nine La Liga matches. Beating their arch-rivals this time would give the Catalans ten straight wins and also extend their points gap over Real in the table, making this home fixture important in the title race as well.
Speaking at Saturday's press conference about his plan to contain Mbappe, Flick said: "What matters for us is being in the right positions both when we have the ball and when we don't."
He added: "When we don't have the ball, being in the right positions relative to each other and playing compactly is important — especially as we play with such a high defensive line."
Flick's remarks point to the main risk in his team's style of play. Playing with a high defensive line makes the space behind the defence hard to protect; the coach reminded everyone that only if the team's compact shape holds will it become much easier for the defence to handle the opposition.
In his words: "If those things are right, it becomes much easier for the defence to deal with the opponent. That is what we have to do." In other words, the defender facing Mbappe will not fight alone — from the moment possession is lost, the whole team must return to the right positions and stay compact.
Team discipline sits at the heart of this plan. Just as holding the right positions in possession matters for attacking, the same discipline protects the defence from collapsing when the ball is lost — in Flick's view, that balance is the key to the match.
Barcelona go into the match with the confidence of nine straight wins. At their home ground, Camp Nou, they now have the chance to maintain that run and stretch their points lead over Real.
For Real, Mbappe is the main hope in attack. How successfully Barcelona stop him will largely decide the course of the match — and the answer to that test will come in Sunday night's big clash.
